Sandberg's Lean In movement turns to campuses to build roots

Many “leaned in” and listened to Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg after she published Lean In: Women, Work and the Will To Lead earlier this year. In the book, Sandberg encourages women to put self-doubt aside become leaders.

LeanIn.Org — a project that its organizers call “the next chapter” of the book — was launched soon after.

The initiative aims to spread the book’s message through creating community, educating people on communication and leadership and starting small groups known as “Lean In Circles.”

LeanIn.Org’s latest effort is Lean In on Campus, which encourages undergraduate and graduate students to launch Lean In Circles on their campuses.

The program was launched through a live conversation with Sheryl Sandberg at Facebook headquarters on Oct. 28. Viewing parties were held on more than 150 campuses and as of this writing, the archived broadcast has been viewed over 10,000 times.

Sandberg spoke to students on a number of issues, ranging from building confidence to dating. She drew a big laugh from the audience when she said, “Marry the guys who are at these viewing parties.”

Her advice to break stereotypes created early in childhood resonated with Denice Sy, a senior at the University of California at Berkeley, who was a member of the live audience.

“I do remember being told… that I was bossy,” Sy says.

Sandberg pointed out that such criticism usually only applies to girls.

Nora Neus, a sophomore at the University of Virginia, was encouraged by Sandberg’s speech.

“It was really great to hear concrete suggestions how to strive for equality and making it a part of our everyday lives,” Neus says.

Eunice Emefa Kokor, a freshman at Columbia University, got a lot from the question and answer session.

“I liked the question and answer session at the end because each person brought in their own message of what lean in means for the real world,” she says.

The event was broadcast to six continents.

Eleri Anona Watson, a fourth-year student at Durham University in Durham, United Kingdom, says while she has heard about the movement, Lean In has yet to make a big impression there.

“It seems like it’s become a bit of a craze in America,” Watson says.

Watson, like some American critics, worries that Lean In does not address the structural barriers women face.

However, Sy feels the Lean In message is valuable in other countries where women have fewer rights.

“The discrimination against women in the Philippines is stronger than here,” says Sy, who is from the Philippines. In her country, Sy says men are always expected to run family businesses, for example.

Sy, Kokor and Neus also reported that male students attended their Lean In viewing parties.

Admiria Cooper is a freshman at Howard University who saw Sandberg speak at a Lean In event at her school. And though Sandberg has been criticized by some for not focusing more on issues of race and class, Cooper feels that race shouldn’t be a focal point of the movement.

“Race is a completely different issue than gender so you wouldn’t be able to address it … the same,” Cooper says.

Andrea Saul, the communications director at Lean In, is also excited to see the organization’s growth through the campus program.

“The most exciting part of our Lean In on-campus launch has been to get more and more people involved in the Lean In community. Seeing the enthusiasm from this generation — the ones that can help get us to equality — has been truly humbling,” writes Saul in an e-mail.